What makes Stadion An Der Altern Försterei so special

If there’s a country where the catchphrase “football belongs to fans” is entitled to citizenship is Germany because of the rule commonly known as 50+1, a regulation that allows fans who are members of a club to own most of the shares so that they can block any possible takeover from outside investors. Basically, whoever is nominated to become club’s president or is entitled to be part of the board of directors must always take into consideration fans’ desires and their traditions. This is why you can find here some peculiarities hardly found anywhere else, like the almost total absence of Monday nights’ games or the safe standings. The most famous one is Die gelbe Wand, the yellow wall created by the Borussia Dortmund’s fans in every home game. Between the Bundesliga and the 2.Bundesliga there are many other cases but one of the most unique is represented by Union Berlin and their Stadion An der Alten Försterei.

It's a rectangular plan facility able to contain 22,000 spectators with four stands adjacent to the pitch and the peculiarity to be placed inside a wood, for this reason it got a name that can be translated as the stadium at the old forester's house. Of those four stands, three have been built with concrete steps which allows people to watch the game in only one way: standing. This the heritage of the renovation works done between 2007 and 2009, works that for most of them have been carried out by fans on a volunteer basis to upgrade the facility and meet the standards required. The final result is a stadium that boils with passion for every Union’s home game, now in Bundesliga like it was back in time in 2.Bundesliga. Ultras, kids, parents, grandparents, students, employees and blue collars: if you don’t buy a ticket for the main stand, the only one with seats, you know that for 90 minutes you’ll be standing, and you have to put your scarf up in the air when “Rammstein” is played before the two teams enter the pitch and then you’ll have to sing in full voice “Eisern Union”, the club’s anthem performed by Nina Hagen.

In a city like Berlin, one of the most cosmopolitan among European capitals and a city opened to influences from the outside, Union is one of the most local things you can find. The club is really tied with the district of Köpenick, south-east part of the city far from fancy districts like Mitte or Prenzlauer Berg. Most of the fans came from neighborhoods like come Adlershof, Schöneweide and Baumschulenweg, suburbs whose main quality is to be close to the Berlin-Brandeburg airport. The bond with traditions has not faded away now that things are going great and the best example to illustrate it are the pictures exposed as choreography during the first ever match played in Bundesliga in 2019 so to remember who passed away before being able to see their favorite team playing in the top league.

For a casual fan is hard to find a ticket for a game at the Alten Försterei, even more so now that Union Berlin have become some kind of cult thanks to their successes in Bundesliga and in Europa League. But there’s more to it: over the years Union have carried out a series of initiatives, like turning the pitch into a gigantic living room to watch the 2014 World Cup, or events that have turned into traditions, like the Christmas concert where the stadium is only enlighten by the candles of who takes part in caroling. Those occasions have turned the Stadion An der Alten Försterei in something more than a simple stadium, they have strengthened the bond between the club and the fans, creating a sense of community that allows people to consider the Alten Försterei as their second home.